1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to hinges, and more particularly to hinges which permit resiliently restrained movement in one or more directions other than about the hinging pin thereof to provide a properly aligned, uniformly tight fit between opposite mating members.
2. History of the Prior Art
It is sometimes necessary to couple together a pair of opposite, mating members with a hinge so that the members can be separated from one another through the hinging action of the hinge. This may be true, for example, in the case of a housing made up of opposite halves where the hinged mounting of the two halves is necessary in order to be able to open the housing to provide access to the interior thereof. In such arrangements it may be difficult to maintain a tight fit between the opposite halves of the housing around the entire circumference thereof, particularly with a hinge of conventional rigid design. The problem of properly aligning and providing a uniform tight fit between the opposite halves of the housing may be aggravated by such factors as manufacturing tolerances or the build up of dirt or other foreign objects between the mating halves of the housing.
An example of a structure in which such problems arise is provided by a co-pending application of Lundie et al, Ser. No. 546,834, filed Oct. 31, 1983 and commonly assigned with the present application. The Lundie et al application describes a vacuum seed meter which has a generally cylindrical housing comprised of opposite mating half shells. The opposite half shells of the housing must be coupled together with a hinge so that access can be provided to the interior of the housing for various reasons including the changing of a rotatable seed disk mounted within the housing. When the mating half shells of the housing are pivoted toward each other and then clamped together to close the housing, it is necessary that the half shells properly align with each other upon closing and that they form a uniform tight fit about the entire circumference thereof. Such a fit can be provided using a conventional hinge of rigid, inflexible design such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,429,447 of Apfelbaum if the mating half shells of the housing are precisely manufactured to within very close tolerances. However, this has been found to be impractical because of the time and expense involved in achieving the necessary tolerances. Moreover, a buildup of dirt and debris within the individual half shells at or adjacent the interface therebetween makes precise alignment and a uniform tight fit difficult or impossible to achieve, even in instances where close manufacturing tolerances are observed.
Such problems suggest the use of a resilientlty movable, self-aligning hinge in order that proper alignment and the desired uniform fit may be achieved in the face of more practical lowered manufacturing tolerances as well as in the face of other problems created such as by the buildup of dirt and debris. However, the prior art has been devoid of a suitable hinge for accomplishing this. While hinges having some resiliency are known, as shown for example by U.S. Pat. No. 4,179,844 of Steuer, such hinges are designed for different types of applications or in any event do not possess the necessary characteristics.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved hinge. It would furthermore be desirable to provide an improved hinge useful in providing proper alignment and a uniform tight fit between opposite mating members in the face of manufacturing tolerances and other potential problems such as the buildup of dirt and debris. It would still furthermore be desirable to provide a self-aligning hinge capable of moving in various different directions against resilient resistance to facilitate proper alignment and a uniform tight fit between opposite mating members such as the opposite half shells of the generally cylindrical housing of the vacuum seed meter described in the previously referred to co-pending application of Lundie et al.